The Great White Shark aka The White Pointer Shark carcharodon carcharias

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The Great White Shark(aka The White Pointer
Shark)carcharodon carcharias

• Audra Hinton

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Physical Description

• Average length is 13-17 feet. Although there have
  been reports of them exceeding 20 feet.
• Average weight is about 2000-4000 lbs. The
  heaviest reported was over 7000 lbs.
• The teeth range from 1 ½ 2. There are modern
  teeth that are over 2 ½ long. The longest
  reported fossil is over 3 ½ long.
• The shark is usually white on its under side and
  grey or dark blue on its back. This allows it to
  blend in from above with the seafloor.

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Dinner Time!

• The Great White Shark feeds on fish, sea turtles
  and other sharks, however its favorite meal
  includes sea lions and elephant seals. What is
  remarkable about the sharks feeding habits is
  that, contrary to what is depicted in Jaws, it
  adjusts its technique to the prey that it happens
  to be hunting.
• When feeding on a seal, the attack usually comes
  from below while the seal is just beneath the
  surface. The initial attack usually takes place
  near the head of the animal in an area rich with
  blood vessels. This causes the animal to bleed to
  death or die from decapitation.
• When hunting a sea lion, the attack usually comes
  as the sea lion is at the surface of the water
  with one brutal strike. The shark may even throw
  itself out of the water with the sea lion
  securely in its jaws. The animal, lacking the
  same blood vessels, flounders to the surface and
  the shark is free to come back for the final kill
  and to feed.

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Reproduction

• Great White Sharks reproduce Aplacental
  Viviparity. This means that the babies hatch
  from eggs, but the eggs remain inside the female.
  There is no placenta so the hatchlings must feed
  on the unfertilized eggs or their siblings. Even
  before they are born, they are instilled with the
  instincts to kill for their own survival.
• Once the mother gives birth, the pups swim away
  immediately. No maternal care is given.
• The mother gives birth to 7-9 pups each litter.
  However a female can carry as many as 14 babies
  at one time.
• At birth, a 5-foot-long, 60 pound pup looks and
  acts exactly like a miniature adult.
• A female great white is only expected to have 4-6
  litters in her lifetime.

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Migration

• Great Whites are mostly found near shore around
  very temperate coastlines in the world.
• They have been found along the coast of
  California all the way up to Alaska, the east
  coast of the U.S. and most of the Gulf Coast,
  Hawaii, South America, South Africa, Australia,
  Japan, Mediterranean Sea, New Zealand, West
  Africa, Eastern China and Southern Russia.
• The females sometime migrate to warmer waters to
  give birth.
• Great whites are normally considered solitary
  animals but have been observed traveling in
  pairs.
• Great Whites are protected almost globally due to
  the decrease in big numbers.

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Swimming

• Great Whites use their large tail to propel them
  in the water while using the fins for balance.
  They swim at an average pace of 2 mph, although
  they can burst to 15 mph while trying to catch
  prey.
• They must swim constantly in order to breath and
  to not sink to the bottom of the ocean. They have
  large oily livers that allow for some floating
  ability.
• Due to the fact that their fins are not flexible
  like other fish, the Great White Sharks cannot
  swim backwards or even stop abruptly.

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Shark Attack!

• The general reason that a human is attacked by a
  Great White is simply a case of mistaken
  identity. Once the shark bites into and tastes
  human flesh, it generally realizes it made a
  mistake and lets go.
• If a human is bleeding while in the ocean, it is
  very easy for a shark to think that they are a
  wounded seal or fish.
• A shark can detect one drop of blood in 25
  gallons of water.

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Shark Attack!
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Shark Attack!
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Further Research

• In order to obtain further information about the
  Great White Shark, scientists must travel to the
  places where they are known to hunt their prey.
  The Farallon Islands off the coast of San
  Francisco, for instance, are home to large
  amounts of elephant seals, making this a hot spot
  for more research.

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The End!